Tag Archives: boulder

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Granite Shoreline, Sunset Peak

December 1, 2014 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

The last sunset light shines on a granite peak above granite outcroppings along a forest-lined subalpine lake, Yosemite National Park

On the day after a long hike to our destination at a high subalpine lake, where we set up camp and settled in for a longish stay, we had gotten up on this morning and started the work of photographing here. The day began early, before sunrise, as we made our first get-acquainted photographs along the shoreline of the lake and then continued to photograph in to the morning hours. As is typical, we returned to camp once the beautiful morning light was replaced by the less compelling light of midday, where we enjoyed the camp rituals of sitting around and talking, sharing meals, taking care of camp chores, and formulating plans for evening photography. After (a very early) dinner, the late afternoon light was about to become interesting, and it was time to head out once again.

As is usually the case (and almost the necessity) among landscape photographers, we each mostly worked alone — though we also encountered one another at times as we wandered the area. We continued shooting as late afternoon turned toward early evening, with shadows lengthening and the color of the light warming. A few benign clouds appeared above nearby ridges as I photographed in quiet forested areas along the lake. The sun dropped toward the horizon, deepening the shadows where I was working, so I moved to a more open area where I could see a small granite peninsula, lakeside trees, and unnamed peaks on the ridge to the east as the last sun touched their summits and the light reflected on the lake’s surface. I made a few final photographs, the light faded, and I walked back towards camp in the evening quiet as darkness arrived.

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Photographs: Nature, Photographs: The Southwest, Photographs: Utah

Canyon Cottonwood Trees, Autumn

November 20, 2014 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Cottonwood trees with autumn foliage fill the bottom of a red rock canyon near Boulder, Utah

After a week or so of camping out in a range of Utah locations, one of which was rather remote, I emerged from this backcountry of gravel roads and red rock and canyons and came back to the (relative) civilization of Escalante, Utah. Gas stations! Espresso! Restaurants! Even better, I had an appointment to meet my cousin and her husband over in Boulder, Utah… and dinner was on the calendar!

I arrived in Boulder a bit early, and having a bit of extra time I decided to use it by traveling out on the Burr Trail. I’ve been on that road a few times in the past, so I figured that it would be fairly easy to find red rock canyon walls and perhaps more cottonwood color. As I arrived at the first narrow section of canyon the road traversed the side of a ridge and offered overhead views looking down into the canyon and up a larger nearby wash. While elsewhere in the state I had seen a combination of green cottonwoods and other trees that were just about at peak color, here is seemed that the cottonwood color had already peaked, and instead of a wall of gold I saw a mixture of a few intense golden trees and many others that had lost leaves and exposed their trunks and branches. In this spot the trees lined up against canyon walls, and a nearby they marched off down the canyon.

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Glacial Erratics, Cathedral Range

October 8, 2014 G Dan Mitchell 4 Comments

Sunset light on glacial erratics, domes, and the Cathedral Range

The first time I ascended this system of granite slabs to its high point was in the morning, and my goal was to shoot the opposite direction from the scene shown here, so that I could capture the backlight on trees ascending from the ridge toward a higher valley to the east. While up here it became apparent that this spot had potential beyond just that of trees in morning light, and I made several more visits during out stay here.

On this evening I thought I would find out what late-day light possibilities might exist. My initial idea was to arrive soon enough to shoot down the slabs into an open forest of lodgepole pines that seemed like it might catch evening backlight in interesting ways. I arrived at a spot from which I thought such a shot was possible, but it seemed a bit too early for ideal light, and I continued on up the granite rib to a higher point. The atmosphere and light were a bit tricky. At this time of year it is very common to see a bit of wildfire smoke in the air, and that was the case on this evening. In addition, there were some high clouds far to the west and seemed likely to mute the last light. In fact, just as I initially set up this shot the light quickly faded, as if someone had turned down the dimmer switch on a lighting system! At first I was disappointed, but when I looked to the west to see the clouds that blocked the light I could see that there was a gap below the clouds through which the sun would likely shine once more before sunset. So I waited. Perhaps five or ten minutes later the light began to change silently (somehow it always seems a bit odd that only the light changes at those moments) and I managed to shoot through the transition from dark to full light and make one exposure when the light had come back on both the near features and the distant ridge.

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Shoreline Boulder and Meadow, Subalpine Lake

September 17, 2014 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

Some aspects of landscape photography remind me, perhaps in a strange way, of spring skiing. In the spring there is still often plenty of snow, but the temperature swings between sub-freezing nights and warm days have some big effects on the snow. In the morning the re-frozen snow can be so hard that it is almost like trying to ski on a tilting ice rink, and you can easily find yourself skittering across the surface out of control. By late afternoon the warm temperatures melt the snow and can turn it into a slippery slush, and it can be like skiing on oatmeal. But at just the right moment, as the surface of the snow begins to soften but the lower layers are still firm, some of the best skiing possible can occur for a short period each day.

When photography in early or late light, I encounter something very similar — though with a bit of creativity it is possible to stretch things just a bit. Let’s take the afternoon, the time of day when I made this photograph of a simple scene near the outlet stream of a subalpine lake. I began my work a couple of hours before sunset, when the light was still clearly “daytime light.” The sun’s angle is higher, the shadows are more start, the light has a blue quality. As the evening approaches, there is a point at which the light seems to mellow and warm, the shadows lengthen and fill with a bit of reflected light… and almost everything begins to look beautiful. But at this point things change very quickly. I might find myself spotting a bit of light on a branch or a rock, and by the time I’m set up it has moved. While this time seems conducive to looking and contemplating, it is actually a time when I often have to work quickly before the “good light” is gone. This little scene, which is nothing all that special in objective term, was such a scene — a brief moment of warm light slanting through shoreline trees and across meadow grasses, and a few moments later the day ended.

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G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist. His book, “California’s Fall Color: A Photographer’s Guide to Autumn in the Sierra” (Heyday Books) is available directly from him.
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Tag Archives: boulder

Granite Shoreline, Sunset Peak

Canyon Cottonwood Trees, Autumn

Glacial Erratics, Cathedral Range

Shoreline Boulder and Meadow, Subalpine Lake

Photographer and visual opportunist. Daily photos since 2005, plus articles, reviews, news, and ideas.